Polish Media Texts

This is a translation of the original Polish article, which can be found here. The translation is unauthorised, and is provided for educational, informational and non-commercial purposes only'

Abortion, the Church, PiS

 Artur Sporniak, Tygodnik Powszechny

When it comes to the third condition of decriminalising abortion, it is not for us men, let alone bishops, to speak. It is beyond us. Let the women decide.

“When it comes to the protection of unborn life, the current status quo is not satisfactory... We ask parliament to implement the legislative initiatives and introduce programmes of tangible support for the parents of children that are sick, disabled or conceived as a result of rape.” So appeals the Presidium of the Polish Episcopal Conference (KEP) in a message that will be read in churches this Sunday, on the eve of “Sanctity of Life Day”.

This announcement may be interpreted as a response by the episcopate to the suggestion of the Law and Justice (PiS) party leadership that it will not for the time being move on the issue of amending the abortion law. Jarosław Kaczyński and Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki were supposed to meet to discuss the matter in the second half of March. As Rzeczpospolita notes, the chairman of PiS explained to the president of the KEP that the debate over abortion is extremely risky, and could even lead to the fall of [Prime Minister] Beata Szydło’s government. It seems that the [church] hierarchy was not convinced by these tactical arguments.

It is not difficult to see that Archbishop Gądecki secretly supports PiS. The Presidium of the KEP issued a congratulatory letter to the victorious party, which had never happened after previous parliamentary elections.

The Presidium also deleted from the website of the Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Community an article critical of PiS by Henryk Woźniakowski, president of Znak publishing house. They also did not comment on the anti-democratic actions of PiS towards the constitutional court, even though the church by its very nature has a right and obligation to stand up for the common good.

This support does not mean, however, selfless love for PiS. The Presidium of the episcopate supports this party hoping that it will solve the traditionally problematic issues in the relationship between the government and the bishops (such as blocking the legalisation of in vitro fertilisation, outlawing the exceptions for the penalisation of abortion). This, at least, is what can be deduced from the fact that the statement was made now.

It is worth noting that, after years of heated discussions about abortion, the bishops are not simply calling for the abortion law to be tightened, but for replacing the possibility of abortions that are currently permissible with special assistance programmes.

Although the announcement mentions the three cases in which, according to the 1993 act, abortion is decriminalised (to list them here: pregnancy endangering the life or health of the mother, “a substantial likelihood of severe and irreversible handicaps of the fetus or an incurable, life-threatening disease”, as well as pregnancy as a result of rape), ultimately, the Presidium of the KEP focuses on handicapped children and pregnancies that are the result of rape. They most probably realise that it would be difficult to proclaim as fair a law that punishes doctors for abortion that saves a mother’s life.

Is, however, violation of the present compromise reasonable?

On the one hand we would risk a return to the long years of the “abortion war”, with an unknown outcome. If a highly restrictive new law were adopted, it would be a source of constant tension.

On the other hand, the law should protect unborn, handicapped children. It is important to ensure such changes – I am simply not certain whether it is the right moment to implement them.

When I think about the third condition of decriminalising abortion, I feel that it is not for us men, without exceptions (let alone bishops), to speak. This terrible situation is beyond our comprehension. We should let women decide.

Translated by: Tomaszek Katarzyna Cymerys Marta Lipska Aleksandra Radiowska Karolina